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Breast Cancer

Absence of Conclusive Evidence for the Safety and Efficacy of Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone Analogue Treatment in Protecting Against Chemotherapy-Induced Gonadal Injury

^aDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York, USA; ^bDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey; ^cRena Rowan Breast Center, Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; ^dDepartment of Obstetrics & Gynecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany; ^eDivision of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York, USA

Key Words. Chemotherapy • GnRH analogues • Ovarian damage

Correspondence: Kutluk Oktay, M.D., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University, 505 East 70th Street, HT-340, New York, New York 10021, USA. Telephone: 212-746-4292; Fax: 212-746-5929; e-mail: Koktay{at}fertilitypreservation.org

Disclosure: No potential conflicts of interest were reported by the authors, planners, reviewers, or staff managers of this article.

Every year, an increasing number of women with malignant and nonmalignant diseases is successfully treated with cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy. Many of these patients suffer from infertility and gonadal failure as a result of these treatments. At present, these patients may resort to assisted-reproduction techniques to protect their future childbearing potential before the implementation of cytotoxic therapy. While embryo cryopreservation is an established technology, oocyte and ovarian tissue freezing techniques are still investigational. Nevertheless both of these techniques have resulted in live births. Apart from assisted-reproduction techniques, it has been extensively debated whether administration of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues in conjunction with chemotherapy can protect ovarian reserve against cytotoxic insult. In this manuscript, we debate the rationale for the effectiveness of GnRH analogue coadministration in preservation of fertility by reviewing the literature, and provide preliminary data to support our views.

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